Login

USERNAME
PASSWORD

Become a Registered Guest Login Help Lost Password?

Ask Bill Leuenberger what it takes to be a success in the lawn care business and he has a nearly endless list. “It begins with having good people,” says the lawn care manager for Chalet located in Wilmette, Illinois. “Then operators need to have a clear focus on customers and the sector of the market they want to target. Beyond that, they need to give customers realistic expectations, have a good understanding of the products they are using, and operate in a professional manner, including having all required licenses and insurance.” There is more, he adds. “Training is especially important today on two fronts –– training your employees and your customers.”

He continues, “If you have been in this business for any length of time, then you know that many customers view their lawns as carpets, instead of turf. In other words, they do not see them as living things. One of the ongoing challenges for any lawn care operator is to educate their customers about turf diseases, pests, nutrients, water, and so forth.”
Leuenberger has been educating Chalet customers since 1992. Before then, he operated a nursery in California and owned his own lawn care business for eight years. 

“I was raised in Chicago and my family did not believe in the value of gaining a college education,” Leuenberger relates.  “The idea was to get out of school and go to work. So I did. I worked at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and held a few other odd jobs before deciding that the ‘old-school approach’ to making a living was not for me. I began to take a few courses at an area junior college and stumbled upon a horticulture class. Thinking it would be an easy three credits, I signed up. It was not that easy, but it was more interesting than I thought it would be.”
Leuenberger took a few more courses in horticulture, and when his wife’s uncle passed away in California, the couple traveled west to operate his nursery. Unfortunately, the time span, from 1975 to 1977, happened to coincide with a severe drought. The dry weather drove the two back home and the aspiring horticulturist took a job with a local nursery. He had a brief stint with Chalet in 1982 and then started his own company, Lawngevity, in Chicago.

As Leuenberger points out, it is one thing to understand the technical aspects of the lawn care business and another to own and operate one. “I had never had proper funding for my company,” he recalls. “Furthermore, I was operating in a very competitive market and giving customers extra value for their dollars. The two did not add up over time.”  In 1992, eight years after starting Longevity, he sold the company to Chalet and joined its lawn care division. He soon became lawn care manager.
    
Growing business

Chalet was founded in 1917. Today, CEO Larry Thalmann, III, operates a $25 million company comprised of a nursery, retail garden center, full-service landscape design/build/maintenance department, and lawn care department.  Lawn care, which represents $400,000 of the company’s annual revenue, primarily services the company’s landscape maintenance customers.

“We compete in a market where there are several well-respected and professionally run companies,” says Leuenberger. “We have a good relationship with them, and I never try to step on their toes. If I lose a customer to one of them, it is not the end of the world. Conversely, if an uninsured, unlicensed ‘low-baller’ takes a customer, I get annoyed. I think that one of our other biggest challenges is to maintain our industry’s high standard and to make sure customers understand the difference between professional and unprofessional operators.”

Even though lawn care represents a small percentage of Chalet’s overall revenue, it is an integral part of the operation. Leuenberger manages four people and likes to get to work early, usually by 5:00 a.m. In his words, he wears as many hats as he can from the time he gets to work.

As lawn care manager, he is also actively involved with the turf programs at area colleges and participates in several regional associations. “I believe it is vital to be involved and get to know as many people in the industry as you can,” he relates. “That’s one reason why I like going to the Green Industry Conference. When I am on vacation, I also use some of that time to visit other lawn care operations.”

Knowledge is power, but it should also be free-flowing, he adds. Having knowledgeable competitors, employees, and customers is good for everyone. Chalet recently formed an Interdepartmental Harmony Committee to ensure the free-flow of information between its two divisions and four departments. The company’s retail garden center also hosts a learning center for customers. Twice a year, in the spring and fall, Leuenberger participates by teaching a lawn care seminar for customers. Among topics this fall, he will talk about aeration and the importance of fall fertilization. He will also touch on new products and conduct a Q & A session.

Chalet’s philosophy, and that of Leuenberger’s, is to keep information flowing to as many customers as possible. Smart operators understand that smart homeowners make the best customers.